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Zola (band)

Zola
Zola
	Left to right: Rhys Kenyon, Kian Kazeminia, Nicholas Traill, and, obscured behind Traill, Arran H. Tarvet performing in 2018.
Background information
Origin	Glasgow, United Kingdom
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	2015–present
Members	Nicholas Traill; Kian Kazeminia; Rhys Kenyon; Billy McCluskie;
Past members	Matthew Carson; Kenny Lenehan;
Website	zola.scot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Scottish rock band. For their self-titled debut album, see Zola (album).

Zola are a Scottish rock band formed in 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. The band's line-up includes founders Nicholas Traill (lead vocals, guitar) and Kian Kazeminia (guitar, backing vocals), alongside band members Billy McCluskie (bass guitar), and Rhys Kenyon (drums, percussion, backing vocals).

The band was formed between Traill and Kazeminia after previous musical endeavours they worked on independent of each other failed. For Traill it was an attempt at studying and performing in Manchester, United Kingdom, and for Kazeminia the dissolution of his previous band Reno. Zola spent several years developing their self-titled debut album and working on creating their sound based in the roots of riff-oriented rock music, incorporating heavy styles, low tunings, and differing time signatures whilst driving catchy melodies and guitar hooks, citing bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Periphery, CHON, Everything Everything as their main influences.

History

Formation and debut album (2015–2017)

After returning from Manchester, United Kingdom in early 2015, Nicholas Traill was approached by Kian Kazeminia about the possibility of jamming together. Traill looked to capitalise on the opportunity to potentially form a band with Kazeminia, keen to work on new music after his failed stint at starting his music career in Manchester and dropping out from his Music Performance degree at the University of Salford. Kazeminia had just come from the dissolution of his previous band Reno, and was keen to start writing fresh material he was passionate about after feeling disillusioned about his experience in Reno.

Jam sessions between Traill and Kazeminia began in February 2015, and in March 2015 saw the addition of Rhys Kenyon to their sessions at the suggestion of Kazeminia. Three continued to jam together, gathering material and rehearsing their performance ability as a trio until the addition of Matthew Carson took place a year later in June 2016. With the addition of Carson, the band were able to perform shows, with their debut show taking place at The Old Hairdresser's in Glasgow in August 2016, with the band's first EP 'The Beginning, Middle, and End' being digitally distributed on Bandcamp shortly afterwards. As shows progressed forwards, Carson parted ways with the band mutually in November 2016 when it transpired he would seek to focus further on his university studies.

Over the winter period, the band began seeking a new bassist and were approached by Kenny Lenehan. Lenehan subsequently joined the band in January 2017, and in the coming months the band began to return to gigging in Glasgow, gathering final material for a debut record. Discussions for recording a debut album began around June 2017, and in August 2017 the band went into the studio with producer and jazz musician James Steele. Recording took 10 days from the beginning of August, but the mixing and mastering was significantly rushed due to the bands limited funds and planned release deadlines at the time. The mix was taken to Iain Hutchison of GloWorm Recording Ltd for mastering, but when the master came back to the band, the band felt jointly that the master had revealed various issues with the original mix. After weeks of discussion, Traill offered to shoulder the cost of having the stems taken back to Hutchison to re-mix instead, and then subsequently re-master. This process took place in September 2017, and the results of the new master went beyond the band's original expectations of how more improved it would sound.

The lead single from the album, 'Eyes', was independently released online exclusively on the 31st of October 2017, with the debut album released on the 17th of November 2017. Before the release, due to internal disagreements with how the band was moving forward, the band parted ways with Lenehan, and began another search for a new bassist. Billy McCluskie approached the band following the release of the album, and subsequently joined the band after successfully stepping in to replace Lenehan for an impending performance at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on the 11th of December, 2017.

Swing Carousel and iROCK Festival performance (2018)

Musical Style

Members

Main article: List of Zola contributors

Current

Nicholas Traill – lead vocals, guitar (2015–present)
Kian Kazeminia – guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)
Rhys Kenyon – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2015–present)
Billy McCluskie – bass (2017–present)

Former

Matthew Carson – bass (2016)
Kenny Lenehan – bass, backing vocals (2017)

Touring

Arran H. Tarvet – bass, backing vocals (2018–present)

Discography

Main articles: Zola discography and list of songs

Studio Albums

Zola (2017)

Studio Singles

Eyes (2017)
Swing Carousel (2018)